Laying up on a par-3? At this U.S. Open, it’s a strategy pros are considering

The Los Angeles Country Club is stacked with 300-yard par-3s, 500-yard par-4s and a 620-yard par-5, but the two holes generating the most talk are two of the shortest.

The 6th hole is one of the more intriguing drivable par-4s in recent U.S. Open memory with many pros still not sure whether or not to go for it on the eve of the championship.

But it’s the 124-yard par-3 15th that really has the players’ attention, with the potential for the USGA to play a front tee and front pin location, making the hole as short as 78 yards, what would be the shortest hole in U.S. Open history.

While a 78-yard hole might sound enticing, the world’s best are downright terrified, some, including Billy Horschel, are even contemplating playing away from the green.

“Maybe I’ll just hit it right of the green in the little fairway cut,” Horschel told GOLF Subpar co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “Because that should be softer. The ball will bounce, you know, spin. And I’ll just be 10 feet off the green and have a putt up the green.”

Yes, a PGA Tour pro just said he might lay up on a sub-80-yard par-3.

And he’s not alone. Golf Channel’s John Wood reported that Rickie Fowler was also weighing the merits of intentionally playing to the right of the green.

For Horschel, there’s one factor that will determine the hole’s fairness: how firm the green is.

“My one worry, not issue, is that if the green gets too firm — if guys are landing a lob wedge in an area that is seven yards deep and they land it on the green, is that ball going to bounce in the back bunker?” Horschel asked on this week’s episode of Subpar. “If you land it two yards on, is that ball going to take a big bounce and go in the back bunker or maybe in that back rough or is a good shot going to get rewarded? And that’s what we all care about. You hit a quality golf shot, it should get rewarded.”

Horschel said the USGA hasn’t always nailed U.S. Open course setups — recent slippery-green Opens at Long Island’s Shinnecock Hills come to mind — but he also said that setups have gotten better lately, specifically the last three U.S. Opens at Winged Foot, Torrey Pines and The Country Club.

For more from Horschel, including the rest of his thoughts, check out the full episode of GOLF’s Subpar below.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.